


And If It’s You?

by vivinaked61



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Best Friends Oh Sehun & Park Chanyeol, ChanBaek - Freeform, Chanbaek fluff, Clueless Byun Baekhyun, Confused Byun Baekhyun, Confused Park Chanyeol, Everyone is in love with the wrong person, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Love Triangles, M/M, Oh Sehun is a Little Shit, Sehun isn’t actually a bad guy, Sweet Park Chanyeol, lots of lying, some midsummer night’s dream shit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:49:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27352246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vivinaked61/pseuds/vivinaked61
Summary: (FINAL CHAPTER COMING SOON)“Sorry, I’m late for class-”“Wait, wait! Please, just listen to me!”, Chanyeol’s hand scrambled into his pocket taking out a crumbled piece of paper. “I need to tell you something, about the notes that were in your locker last year.”.Baekhyun looked at him abruptly, “You know about the notes? Was it you?”. The look in his eyes made Chanyeol’s heart flutter, he was screaming to himself ‘don’t get a nosebleed this isn’t the time!’.Chanyeol took a deep breathe, this was it. The all consuming love he’d had for his classmate wasn’t about to be a secret anymore. Before Chanyeol could answer, an arm slung around his shoulder and a much more confident voice spoke instead of him.“It was me, I wrote those love notes. I’m Sehun, you have no idea how long I’ve been wanting to tell you this.”
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Oh Sehun, Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol, Do Kyungsoo | D.O/Kim Jongin | Kai, Do Kyungsoo | D.O/Oh Sehun
Comments: 26
Kudos: 32





	1. Chapter 1: Grapes

It started when Chanyeol was walking out of the nurse’s office, rubbing his arm because he’d just been hit with a dodge ball and it gave him an ugly purple bruise. He knew he was sent out of the lesson because this happened too often and the coach didn’t want him to stick around longer in case he’d get hit again, he bruised like a peach.

Sehun did apologise though, but Chanyeol dismissed it because his best friend was always distracted by Kyungsoo in gym class. Sehun’s reasoning this time was ‘his ass looked great in those shorts, and fuck did you see him pouting when he was out in the first round?’. Chanyeol was just thankful he didn’t get hit in the face or down south.

While aimlessly walking down the hallway sulking about his bruise that he knew his mom would ask him a million questions about later, he bumped into a smaller figure that was rubbing his nose from colliding with Chanyeol’s chest.

“Oh, I’m so sorry! Are you okay? Did I hurt your nose?”, Chanyeol stepped back and realised it was Baekhyun who he’d seen in science class. But instead of receiving curses and the classic ‘watch where you’re going, dork’, Baekhyun laughed and shook his head. 

“It’s okay, I wasn’t looking where I was going so it’s my fault.”, he eyed Chanyeol’s bruise on his arm and started digging into his pocket, a cute grin never leaving his face.

“Here! Don’t be sad, eat this and cheer up.”, Baekhyun reached for Chanyeol’s hand and placed a piece of grape flavoured gum in his palm. “Grape is an underrated flavour.”, he flashed a bright smile at Chanyeol before walking away.

Chanyeol stared at the candy in his hand before looking back, but Baekhyun was already gone. Chanyeol suddenly decided his favourite flavour was grape.

——

Chanyeol couldn’t shake the image of Baekhyun out of his head as he laid in bed staring at the ceiling, smiling dopily.

“Will you cut that out? You’re giving me the creeps...”, Sehun swirled in the swivel chair, playing with one of Chanyeol’s Iron Man figurines.

“I can’t help it, it was like meeting an angel and receiving a gift from the Gods.”

“Dude, he gave you candy.”

Chanyeol groaned and sat up, throwing a pillow at his best friend. “If you’re not going to be supportive then get out of my house and stop eating our food!”.

“Okay, okay, I’ll be nice! Please don’t take me off the invite list for your wedding...”, Sehun snickered at his joke and managed to dodge the second pillow lunged at him.

“Chanyeol, Sehun, Yoora come eat dinner!”, Mrs Park called out from downstairs.

Sehun spat something into the bin beside the desk before standing with Chanyeol to go down, they walked down the stairs being passed by Yoora who was busy texting on her phone and mumbling ‘don’t you have food at your own house.’.

“Hey, I told you not to eat anything or it’ll spoil your dinner.”, Sehun shrugged at Chanyeol’s comment.

“It sucked anyway, grape flavoured gum isn’t that good.”

“What?”, Chanyeol stopped, he only had one piece of grape flavoured gum and it was the one Baekhyun gave him.

“Strawberry is better, get that next time.”

———

His fingers gripped the sides of the folded note, taking a deep breathe and standing in front of Baekhyun’s locker.

Chanyeol had never done this before, he’d never written a note for someone and slid it into their locker. He’d also never felt his heart beat so strongly as he did the day he bumped into Baekhyun, he figured he had nothing to loose.

He slid the note into the thin gap of the locker door, but he instantly regretted it because what if Baekhyun knew it was him? What if Baekhyun gets creeped out by the letter and runs a test to find any fingerprints on the letter to find the writer?

Chanyeol didn’t have time to freak out about all the other possibilities where he’d be made out as obsessive, or even a stalker because the bell rang and he saw Baekhyun walking down the hall with another classmate.

He dashed away behind a corner where he was hidden but could still get a view of Baekhyun at his locker, so much for not seeming like a stalker.

Baekhyun bid his friend goodbye and opened his locker door, a note immediately flowing down to his feet.

He crouched down to pick it up and looked at it confused before glancing around at anyone near by, but everyone had gone to class already.

Chanyeol held his breathe because he was mentally preparing for his crush’s reaction when he opened the note. He didn’t expect the smaller to smile so sweetly, eyes crinkling and cheeks turning a pretty pink. Baekhyun was the embodiment of an actual angel in that moment.

Chanyeol wanted to always keep that happy look on his face, so he continued writing the letters.

———

Fourty eight letters and over a hundred grape flavoured gum packs later, Chanyeol’s hands were shaking as he sat on the bench, he was going to do it. He was going to confess his feelings to Baekhyun even though all the voices in his head were telling him he couldn’t do it. He chose to ignore them.

‘It’s fine. I can do this.’

‘I can do this.’

‘I’m going to do it.’

‘Fuck, I can’t.’

He stood up from the bench and was ready to dash back into the comfort of his dorm room, where he’d torment himself about being a coward but he saw Baekhyun running towards the library straight past him.

He saw it as a sign, maybe he wasn’t a coward after all.

“Baekhyun!”, Chanyeol called out which caught the shorter’s attention, he stopped and turned to Chanyeol.

“Sorry, I’m late for class-”

“Wait, wait! Please, just listen to me!”, Chanyeol’s hand scrambled into his pocket taking out a crumbled piece of paper. “I need to tell you something, about the notes that were in your locker.”.

Baekhyun looked at him abruptly, “You know about the notes? Was it you?”.

The look in his eyes made Chanyeol’s heart flutter, he was screaming to himself ‘don’t get a nosebleed this isn’t the time!’.

Chanyeol took a deep breathe, this was it. The all consuming love he’d had for his classmate wasn’t about to be a secret anymore. But before Chanyeol could answer, an arm slung around his shoulder and a much more confident voice spoke for him. “It was me, I wrote those love notes. I’m Sehun, you have no idea how long I’ve been wanting to tell you this.”


	2. Chapter 2: For me or for you?

“What?”

“What?”

Chanyeol repeated after Baekhyun, staring at his best friend in disbelief. Sehun remained smiling at Baekhyun, unaware that Chanyeol was mentally stabbing him.

“I asked Chanyeol to tell you for me at first, but I figured it’s better if I tell you myself.”, Baekhyun parted his lips to say something but looked at his watch instead.

“Sorry but can I meet up with you in a bit? I’m late for class, but can we talk more when I get out? I’ll be in front of the library in an hour, okay?”.

Baekhyun asked hopefully, Chanyeol didn’t know why he wasn’t speaking up and saying that he actually wrote the letters. The words were stuck in his throat as Sehun’s arm was still holding him in place.

“Sure, I’ll see you in a bit.”

Baekhyun smiled at Sehun before sprinting into the library. Chanyeol waited until he was at a safe enough distance that he wouldn’t hear his yelling.

“Sehun, what the fuck! I’m the one that wrote the letters, why the hell did you tell him it was you?”, Sehun shushed him and dragged him away behind a tree before people could give them weird looks or try and eavesdrop.

“Chanyeol calm down! Look I panicked in that moment but I have a plan. It’s going to help me with Kyungsoo and it’s going to help make Baekhyun like you.”, Sehun seemed far too calm for Chanyeol’s liking. Chanyeol had dealt with Sehun’s selfish antics since they were nine, but this was the last straw.

He glared at Sehun, yanking his arm away from his grip, “I’m going in there and telling Baekhyun that I wrote the letters.”.

Before Chanyeol could walk away Sehun was tackling him to the ground. “Wait! Just hear me out! I’m not only doing this for me I’m doing this for you-“, Chanyeol shoved Sehun off and sat on the grass pulling his friend down too.

“Then explain, how is lying to Baekhyun helping me in any sort of way?”, Sehun let go of Chanyeol and sat with his legs crossed, running a hand through his hair.

“I did you a favour.”

Chanyeol scoffed.

“Listen to me. Do you think Baekhyun will like you after finding out you wrote these letters?”

Chanyeol gulped, he honestly didn’t know. He never really thought much about whether Baekhyun would like him back, but rather how he could make Baekhyun happy by being his secret admirer.

“What are you saying?”

Sehun sighed and leaned back onto his arms, “I found out that Baekhyun is roommates with Kyungsoo. I’m going to pretend that I wrote your letters and hang out with Baekhyun, that way I can find out things about Kyungsoo and win him over and while I’m doing that I can find out the things Baekhyun likes and doesn’t like. That way I can mould you into his dream guy! It’ll help make both our dreams come true.”.

“That’s the most stupid plan I’ve ever heard from you, it doesn’t even make sense.”, Chanyeol stood up and smacked the side of Sehun’s head. “You’re going to hurt Baekhyun and I won’t allow that, it’s not right to use someone to get to someone else.”.

“How do you know Baekhyun liked the letters? Or that he even likes the person he thinks wrote them?”, Sehun stood up as well, brushing off his knees and looking his best friend in the eyes.

“I- I saw him smile when he read it for the first time.”, Chanyeol felt uncertainty.

“Chan, we smile for all kinds of reasons. We can smile when we think something is ridiculous or even funny-“, Sehun saw the gloomy look on Chanyeol’s face and sighed.

“Trust me, this can work. Just because Baekhyun thinks I wrote the letters doesn’t mean I have to be the guy of his dreams. I’ll just say things that makes it sound like I wrote the letters while convincing him that you’re the one he should be with.”

“One problem, you shit. Baekhyun thinks that you like him. He’s not stupid, he’s gonna find it weird that you keep asking about his roommate rather than being interested in him.”, Chanyeol wanted to bang his head against the tree. If he had known being friends with Sehun would be so stressful he wouldn’t have offered half his cookie to him when they first met in kindergarten.

“Chanyeol, do you trust me? I may do stupid shit but don’t I always get us out of it?”

“You can’t ever get out of shit unless I help you.”

“Fuck, exactly you genius. We’re the perfect team! C’mon, it’s us. Don’t you want to finally get your chance with Baekhyun?” Chanyeol groaned and nodded before Sehun fist pumped the air in triumph.

“Yes! Okay, plan ‘get the babes’ is officially underway.”

“Don’t call it that.”

———

“So, when did you first get into literature?”, Baekhyun’s question took Sehun by surprise, he choked a little on his milkshake.

They were sat in a café not too far from the school but it was peaceful enough that they didn’t have to worry about students coming in and making a ruckus. Sehun originally wanted to walk Baekhyun to his dorm in hopes of seeing Kyungsoo but Baekhyun insisted on treating his now not so secret admirer.

“Hmm, how did I get into literature?”, Sehun asked himself and sent Baekhyun a small smile.

“What kind of idiot are you to not even think of an answer? Just say you liked the subject, but don’t give too much detail or he’ll ask more questions.”, Chanyeol spoke into Sehun’s ear through his AirPod.

Chanyeol was seated in his dorm that he shared with Sehun, listening to their conversation through a call and giving Sehun help by talking to him through his one AirPod. Sehun told Baekhyun that he had an ear infection and wanted to cover it up with the AirPod for the sake of their first meeting. Baekhyun thought he was sweet and such a gentleman, Chanyeol thought his best friend would be able to get away with murder the way he could lie so convincingly.

“Well, how I got into literature is kind of a long story.”

“I have time, how did it happen?”, Baekhyun leaned forward and sipped some of his milkshake, looking at Sehun intrigued.

“Uhm... I liked the subject at first, then I got bored of it. Now I think it’s interesting again,”, Sehun laughed awkwardly and felt nervous by Baekhyun’s puzzled but amused expression, “I picked it up again cause I read a good book and it just threw me back into the world of literature.”.

Chanyeol facepalmed, rubbing his temples stressed, “What are you doing? World of literature- Sehun, you don’t read!”.

“Which book was it? It must have been good if it made you interested in the subject again. You’re not in my literature class so you must be in the other one?”

“Yeah, I’m in the other class. The book is actually the one we’re studying in class at the moment, I just found it so romantic, it moved me.”, Sehun felt like he nailed it but Baekhyun looked much more confused.

“You think Macbeth is romantic? It’s a tragedy, and it’s a play not a book. Are we studying different texts in class?”

“Oh Sehun, you fucking yam. Just say that you’re referring to a novel adaptation of Macbeth that centres around the relationships of the play, I don’t think that exists though.”, Chanyeol didn’t know if he felt more sorry for Sehun having to lie about a subject he slept through in high school or for Baekhyun for having to listen to him. Turns out it was Baekhyun because Sehun completely ignored his advice.

“You know, I’m having trouble concentrating these days because my roommate, Chanyeol, is always staying up late and playing guitar. Did you know he plays, like, all the instruments?”

Baekhyun hummed at the random comment, “He’s your roommate? I’ve seen him playing piano sometimes when I walk past the music department, he’s quite talented”.

Chanyeol was sure that his heart just bursted, he turned up the volume on his phone despite it already being on loud speaker. His crush noticed him, and not only when he gave him a piece of gum over a year ago.

“Yeah! He can play everything, he once played a song with two spoons- But enough about me and Chanyeol. Tell me about you, who’s your roommate?”, Sehun dug his spoon into his piece of strawberry cake, sliding the plate to Baekhyun for him to try as well.

“My roommate is Do Kyungsoo, he’s really nice but more on the quiet side. I don’t see him much in our dorm, so I’m not as entertained as you may be with Chanyeol.”, Baekhyun’s small joke made Chanyeol bury his head into his pillow. His name coming from Baekhyun’s mouth was just perfect.

“He’s not always in the dorm? Where does he go?”, Sehun couldn’t mask his disappointment and he wanted to yell back at the annoying voice screaming in his ear.

“You sound like you’re not interested in the person you’re actually on a date with! Fuck, this isn’t going well, I’m gonna call you and just pretend you have an emergency.”, Chanyeol hung up the call and dialled Sehun’s number, sighing that he picked up on the second ring cause he should have at least waited longer to seem invested in spending time with Baekhyun.

“Hello? Chanyeol, what’s wrong?”

“You’re stupid, you know that?”

“What? That’s terrible are you okay?”

“Please fall into the pond on the way here and get attacked by the ducks.”

“Don’t worry, I’m on my way.”

Sehun hung up and looked at Baekhyun apologetically, “I’m so sorry, Chanyeol got into an accident and needs my help, can we meet up later though?”, Baekhyun stood up the same time he did and nodded.

“Yeah its fine, don’t worry about it. What happened?”

“He kinda fell down the stairs-"

“What! Is he okay? Should I call the hospital, is he badly injured?”

“No, no it’s okay! This happens all the time, he’s such a clutz but he’s got long legs so he can just swing himself back up! I’ll see you later though, I’ll call you.”, he smiled before rushing out of the café and sprinting back to the dorms.

He made it back to his room later than he expected because he got tired of running half way and just leisurely walked. Chanyeol was playing a game on his phone when he entered the shared dorm, but he quickly shut it off and jumped off the bed.

“I’m assuming you didn’t fall in the pond like I asked considering you’re dry, but what happened? What did you tell him was the reason you had to go?”

Sehun shrugged off his jacket and plopped on his bed rubbing his eyes, “I told him you fell down the stairs.”.

“What! For fucks sake. Everything that comes out of your mouth just gets worse and worse.”

“He bought it so I just rolled with it- But I told him that you can play a lot of instruments!”

“I heard. Thanks for telling him I play the spoons I’m sure he’ll want to marry me now.”

“Anytime, Park.”

Chanyeol sat on the bed and sighed into his hands, “What’s the next part of the plan?”.

A knock at the door was heard before Sehun could answer, and a familiar voice spoke through the door.

“Sehun? Chanyeol? Are you guys in there, I wanted to make sure Chanyeol was okay!”

The two looked at each other with wide eyes, whisper yelling to each other.

“This is all your fault! How did he even know this was our dorm?”

“Shut up and lay down like you just fell down the stairs!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is kinda shitty, but hopefully I’ll be able to write better now that London is going into lockdown 😭 Stay safe everyone! 💓


	3. Chapter 3: Don’t bottle it up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is quite long, thank you for reading and commenting! Take care everyone💗

“Are you guys in there? I brought some cakes to cheer Chanyeol up!”

Chanyeol didn’t know if he wanted to cry from Baekhyun’s thoughtfulness or strangle Sehun for putting him in this position. He was laying in bed hugging a pillow and scowling at Sehun who opened the door with an intense smile which did not say ‘my best friend just tumbled down the stairs’.

“Baekhyun! Hey, what are you doing here? How’d you find our dorm so quick? Please, come in.”

Baekhyun entered the dorm and gave Chanyeol a warm smile which turned into a pout, Chanyeol felt bad for making him worry and for lying so much when they hadn’t even properly met.

“I asked some people around if they knew where your dorm was and Junmyeon told me, I was worried when you said Chanyeol fell, and I figured if it happens often it must suck. So I got some more cakes from the café, I got strawberry and vanilla but you guys can decide who gets which piece.”, Baekhyun sat on Chanyeol’s bed and placed his palm on the taller’s head. The unexpected action almost made Chanyeol’s heart stop right then and there.

“Hmm... You’re not burning up, but you look a little flushed. Have you been eating well?”, Sehun stood uselessly in front of the two and knew Chanyeol couldn’t lie for shit, and he knew he was all red from how close his crush was to him.

“Not really, I skipped lunch so I felt a little faint, maybe that was it- But I’m feeling better! Thank you for coming though, you really didn’t have to go through all this trouble.”, Baekhyun smiled at Chanyeol’s little rant, shaking his head and patting his arm.

“I’m just glad you’re okay, if you’re ever in need of something sweet I’m the one to look for.”

Chanyeol couldn’t help the smile spreading on his face, but the moment didn’t last long because Baekhyun’s attention snapped to Sehun. He saw that he wasn’t the only reason Baekhyun came by.

“Sehun, you told me that you’d call me but I realised you don’t have my number. Should I put it in for you?”

“Sure, here.”, Sehun handed him his phone and could sense Chanyeol staring daggers at him, he dramatically mouthed ‘relax’ to him as Baekhyun was busy typing in his number.

“There, call or text me whenever. Enjoy the cakes, and I’ll see you guys later! Feel better, Channie.”, Baekhyun stood and Chanyeol noticed the way his eyes lingered on Sehun a little longer than he would have liked, it bothered him so much that couldn’t even internally die from the cute nickname he was just given.

Sehun waved as he walked Baekhyun to the door and shut it after he left, huffing in relief.

“That was a close one. He’s nice though, and the cakes from that place are really good so let’s eat some. You’re a lucky guy, Park.”, Sehun sat on Chanyeol’s bed as he sat up.

Chanyeol sighed, rubbing his forehead where Baekhyun touched feeling like he had a headache coming on. The look he saw Baekhyun give his best friend stung a lot, he had doubts about the plan but he wanted to give Sehun the benefit of the doubt.

He scooped some cake with the small plastic spoon and shoved it in his mouth, sighing as Sehun looked as though he didn’t have a care in the world, happily eating cake.

“Yeah, I’m the luckiest.”

———

Chanyeol was running around all day, he was writing a new song and needed so many different instruments that he even interrupted a few lessons to grab them. He also stumbled over a rack of guitars but luckily caught them before they all fell down and he’d have to write a third cheque to the music department for damage in the span of two months.

He was carrying a set of drums into the practice room when a hand tapped his shoulder, he turned to see who it was but saw no one until he lowered his eyes to be met with a bigger pair staring into his.

“Oh, hi Kyungsoo. What’s up?”

Kyungsoo majored in music as Chanyeol did, but his main subject was politics, Chanyeol didn’t see much of him actively hanging around the music block of campus and this was probably the second or third time he’s seen the shorter around.

“Hey Chanyeol, are you busy?”, Kyungsoo peeked into the room Chanyeol opened the door to, seeing all the instruments he had in there. “Looks like you’re producing the soundtrack for a movie or something...”.

“Yeah, I’m just experimenting with sounds and stuff. But did you need anything?”

“I wanted to ask for a favour, I’m having trouble playing a song I was assigned- For the piano. I was told you’re a natural at it so would you mind helping me out with it? I suck at the chords and the tempo.”

A lightbulb lit up in Chanyeol’s head, maybe this was his chance to hang out with Kyungsoo and talk up Sehun.

“Sure, are you free tomorrow? I’ll be in this room from ten to two so you can drop by anytime.”

“Perfect, thanks Chanyeol. I’ll see you tomorrow.”, Kyungsoo walked off and Chanyeol felt happy that he could help Sehun like he was trying to do for him with Baekhyun.

He spent the rest of the day stuck in the practice room writing a novel’s worth of cliche lyrics and turning bright red at the thought of a cake delivering angel. He realised he received a lot of sweet things from Baekhyun.

———

“It was so fucking boring listening to him explain how mixing blue and pink make purple. But oh wait, there was a twist, if you add a dash of white apparently you can make lilac!”, Sehun rambled on as Chanyeol read his copy of Macbeth.

“Uh huh.”

“I swear, Mr Anh has some type of obsession with explaining primary colours, I might paint the canvas burgundy as my final piece just to piss him off- Chanyeol, are you listening to me?”

“Shut up, I’m reading your favourite romantic book that thrusted you back into the world of literature.”

“I actually said it threw me back into the world of literature. Hey, is that Baekhyun? Shit, is he crying?”

“What?”, Chanyeol sat up and snapped his neck to the direction Sehun was pointing. It was Baekhyun and he was actually crying, Chanyeol felt his heart break at the sight. His normally bright and cheerful expression was now dull, like a cloud was looming over his head.

“I’ll go and see if he’s okay-“

“No! I’ll go.”, Chanyeol stopped Sehun from getting up and stood on his feet. Sehun patted his knee proudly, “Yes! Be his knight in shining armour, good idea. Go get ‘em!”.

Chanyeol didn’t even stay to hear the end of that sentence because he was already running after Baekhyun, following him as he walked off to a secluded part of the campus garden. Not many people were around there, in the centre of that section was a large fountain that sprayed little faint drops of water if you sat too close so people didn’t like hanging around there a lot. Baekhyun didn’t seem to care as he sat on the grass next to the fountain, wiping his eyes aggressively. He normally went there when he needed a good cry, the water didn’t bother him because his own tears were all he could feel.

Chanyeol debated if sitting next to him was an invasion of privacy but he knew when someone looked like they needed to get something off their chest, Baekhyun’s sobs growing louder proved he was that person in that moment.

The taller sat down on the grass, but not too close to Baekhyun that he’d startle him. He tapped his knee and softly spoke to him.

“Hey, Baekhyun are you okay?”

The smaller looked up immediately and wiped his eyes, trying to silence his sniffles, “Chanyeol? What are you doing here?”.

“I saw you crying and wanted to make sure you were okay, are you alright? Do you need to talk?”

Baekhyun sighed and his lips were a bright pink with his cheeks flushed, Chanyeol had to use all his will power not to coo at how cute he looked with that pout.

“It’s... It’s stupid.”

“Hey, if I were a judgemental person would I still be friends with Sehun?”

The comment made Baekhyun laugh, the sound soothing Chanyeol’s ears.

“Seriously, you can tell me anything. I won’t judge you Baekhyun, please trust me.”, Baekhyun looked at Chanyeol and nodded, visibly relaxing and taking a deep breathe.

“It’s not that big of a deal, I just- I got a bad grade for a literature paper I wrote for Mr Kim. He said he had to lower my grade from an A to a C because it was so below expectations. I didn’t know it was that bad, I spent so long on it and it was shit. I know it’s not worth crying over-“

“No, it’s a valid reason to be upset. Baekhyun your feelings aren’t stupid, but sometimes the things we put a lot of effort into are overlooked by someone else. I’m not saying that your paper isn’t good because I’m sure it is, but don’t hold your feelings in. Don’t feel too bad though, Mr Kim’s balding so he’s got his own problems.”, Chanyeol didn’t realise he was scooting closer and brushing Baekhyun’s hair out of his face. His subtle curls gently blowing in the faint wind and making Chanyeol’s palms sweaty.

“You don’t think I’m being dramatic?”, Baekhyun now noticed how fondly Chanyeol looked at him, he could have sworn that his eyes kept flickering to his lips.

“Absolutely not! I’ll tell you something. When I was younger I was made fun of for my ears- I mean they’re pointy and I looked like an elf, but I was really hurt by the comments when I was little.”, Chanyeol looked bashful telling his personal story, he hadn’t even told Sehun about the hurtful remarks from his peers as a kid.

“They’re not so bad.”, Baekhyun tapped one of his ears and giggled prettily, Chanyeol felt a shiver go down his spine at the harmless action.

“Well it made me really upset, I even tried to tape my ears back to make them seem flatter. My mom asked me what’s wrong and I finally cried and told her how I hated my ears. She told me that I should think of my feelings as a bottle of milk-“

“Wait, what?”, Chanyeol wavered his hands when Baekhyun interrupted him.

“Just wait! She told me that our feelings are like a bottle of milk. What happens when you put milk in a bad place it shouldn’t be, like in the sun? It gets spoilt and can eventually burst. And when the bottle is opened it can hurt a lot of people- My point is! If you keep all your feelings in and cry alone you’re bottling everything up, there’s only so much that a single lid can contain. So don’t try and keep everything in, if you feel like you don’t know who to talk to you can always talk to me about anything.”, Baekhyun’s expression was one Chanyeol couldn’t register, he wondered if he had rambled on too much that it made Baekhyun uncomfortable.

“Sorry, you probably didn’t want to hear all that, I just meant-“

“Thank you, Chanyeol.”

Baekhyun grasped his hand and didn’t seem to mind that it was quite sweaty, he was also unaware that Chanyeol’s heart was beating so hard from the contact that if the fountain wasn’t there he would have been able to hear each thump.

“I appreciate everything you just told me, you’re a good friend.”

Fuck, that hurt.

———

The sentence repeated in Chanyeol’s head for the rest of the day even when he was laying in bed about to sleep. He sat up and saw Sehun sprawled out like a starfish on his bed, obviously already dozing off.

“Sehun.”

A light snore was his reply, he spoke louder this time.

“Sehun.”

“Mhm... Yeah?”

Chanyeol laid back down, resting his hands behind his head and closing his eyes,

“About this plan- The thing is, Baekhyun’s not gonna get hurt right?”

“Of course not, Chanyeol.”

“Good. I just... seeing him cry was fucking awful and I don’t want him to-“

He heard a snore again and sighed, he wrote those letters to make Baekhyun happy and feel that he wasn’t alone, there was no way he was going to allow himself to be the cause of his unhappiness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sehun isn’t a dick I swear, things are gonna get more interesting 🤔🤣


	4. Chapter 4: Could it be us?

“Junmyeon I’m not joining your shitty club.”, Sehun argued with the campus president. Junmyeon was persistent and didn’t seem to get the hint that if he didn’t leave Sehun alone he would get thrown out the window.   
  


  
Sehun clenched his fist, ‘Never hit someone smaller than you, never hit someone smaller than you’.

  
“You know what, is this ‘campus president’ position of yours even real? I feel like you made that up.”

“Look, your name was put down on the list. If you don’t cooperate and come to the meetings then I’ll have to take it up with Mrs Chai.”, the mention of the school’s head master made Sehun jump up in his seat. 

“No, no, no she told me that if I get into trouble one more time I’ll be kicked out of my course!”

“Fantastic, see you every Thursday at five in the library.”

Sehun groaned and knew there was nothing he could do. 

“Hey, did you tell Baekhyun where my dorm was yesterday? How do you even know where it is?”

“I know where everyone’s dorm is.”

“That’s fucking terrifying, you- Hey, don’t walk away you little shit!”

Junmyeon was already out the door as he felt someone headlocking him from behind, a cheerful voice spoke into his ear. 

“Sehun! I’ve got some news.”, Yixing sat down at the empty desk in front of him, turning the chair so they were face to face.

“What’s up Yixing?”

“I’m throwing a party at my house, it’s tomorrow. Since it’s Friday today tell as many people as you can. Be there at eight or whenever, spread the word. The more the merrier!”, Yixing stood up and gave Sehun a pat on the shoulder before going over to tell a group of friends about the party. 

Sehun pulled out his phone and texted Chanyeol the news.

_**‘To: Tree** _

_**Party at sheep’s place tmrw, he said to bring anyone you want** _

_**Also, buy condoms for the party’** _

He switched apps to start playing games but received a quick notification.

_**‘From: Tree** _

_**Cool** _

_**Fuck no, you’re not spreading your sexual diseases while lying to Baekhyun and trying to win over Kyungsoo.’** _

————

Chanyeol placed his phone down with a scowl, turning his attention to Kyungsoo who was slowly playing the chords to his assigned song ‘For Life’.

“You’re doing good but the tempo is off, it’s meant to be played andante. Like this.”

Chanyeol played the same chords but more in the correct pace as Kyungsoo nodded and watched diligently. 

“You’re really good at this, I’ve never been assigned to play piano before. I’m used to just singing.”, Kyungsoo softly sighed and tried playing the same chords again but Chanyeol immediately picked up that his pace was still off.

“I know! How about you try to sing the song and play at the same time? That way you can play the chords in time with your singing. Try.”

“Hm, alright.”, Kyungsoo began to sing the chorus and although he still played the chords off beat, he eventually got it right which made Chanyeol feel proud of himself- and of Kyungsoo too.

“You did it! Good job, just keep singing while playing and you’ll get the pacing perfect in no time.”

“Thanks Chanyeol, that’s a smart way to play. You’re quite a good teacher.”

Chanyeol smiled politely, he couldn’t help feeling a bit of awkwardness, Kyungsoo was known to be reserved and collected. The taller thinned his lips not knowing what to say next, he was thankful Kyungsoo was busy shuffling through the music sheets and not noticing how stiff he was. 

“Thanks, you’re a quick learner which is good cause piano is a little hard- You know my friend Sehun? He’s a good teacher too, if you ever need help in art-“

“I don’t do art.”

Kyungsoo’s tone wasn’t rude or snappy, but Chanyeol could tell he wasn’t interested in hearing about his friend. That wasn’t good enough for him though, he wanted to try harder and make a contribution to the stupid plan he didn’t want to do in the first place. The things he does for friendship.

It all happened so fast, Kyungsoo dropped a music sheet on Chanyeol’s side and reached over to grab it while Chanyeol stayed still and their faces were just centimetres apart. Then the door to the practice room opened, from the angle the newcomer was standing it looked like the two were kissing or were about to. 

“Hey Channie have you seen- Shit, I’m so sorry! I’ll- I’ll just come back later...”

“Baekhyun? Wait! It’s not like that!”

Baekhyun shut the door quickly and walked away, Chanyeol almost fell backwards from how fast he got up from the bench. “Sorry Kyungsoo, I’ll be back in a bit.”, the smaller nodded and couldn’t get a word in as Chanyeol was already stumbling out the door.

He ran down the hallway and caught up to his crush, lightly tugging his arm and breathing heavily. 

“Baekhyun! Wait, wait- Baek-“

“Chanyeol it’s fine, I’m sorry for barging in like that. I didn’t know you and Kyungsoo had a thing...”

“No! I wasn’t kissing him, I was just giving him-“

“Look Chan, I gotta go but don’t worry okay? I won’t tell anyone, it’s not my business anyways. I was just looking for Sehun but I’ll find him later. I’m happy for you though, I’ll see you later.”

The shorter walked away, leaving Chanyeol with the words caught in his throat and with his feet stuck to the spot he was standing in. 

Baekhyun was happy that he apparently liked someone else, he liked Sehun and only thought of Chanyeol as a good friend. 

Everything seemed so hopeless and it was only the third day into the plan. 

———

“And they fucking kissed! Well Chanyeol said they didn’t and that he was giving him something else- I think you know what that means.”

Jongdae wiggled his brows as he held the paintbrush to the canvas, gossiping to his friends and looking like a knowledgeable God from how they crowded around him wanting to know more. 

“I had a feeling Kyungsoo was into the musical type, he studies music too right?”

“Kyungsoo is so quiet though, I didn’t think he’d ever date someone or even look at a person for more than five seconds.”, Jongdae answered Minseok and shrugged. 

Jongdae was going by the music department carrying a new box of paint supplies to his class when he saw Chanyeol running after Baekhyun. He figured that they were talking about something juicy from the way Chanyeol looked so panicked and Baekhyun looking like he just wanted to walk away. 

When they finished their conversation, or rather when Jongdae stayed long enough for all the bits he needed to hear, he frolicked back to art class saying ‘I’ve got some news’ in a sing-song voice. 

Everyone in the class was so engrossed in the rumour, talking amongst themselves and whispering about how they didn’t expect it from Chanyeol or Kyungsoo. 

Sehun stormed out of the class after splashing his canvas with an ugly mix of black and green. He was beyond enraged, he’d had his fair share of false rumours made about him but his feelings got in the way of his logic once he heard about Chanyeol fooling around with his crush.

Why would Chanyeol make a move on Kyungsoo? 

Is this because Sehun dragged him into lying to Baekhyun? 

Was this his revenge?

He didn’t have time to think of an answer because he had already found Baekhyun, sitting on the grass and reading a book. The brunette spotted him and waved, standing up while putting his book away.

“Sehun! Hey, I was looking for you. I got you some-“

Sehun leaned down and kissed him on the lips, not harshly but not necessarily with deep feelings. All he could see was red. 

Baekhyun’s eyes widened before closing, he was taken aback by the sudden action but didn’t question it or push him away. 

———

“Chanyeol, I’m sorry about earlier. Did you clear up the misunderstanding with Baekhyun? I’ll talk to him if you want. Chanyeol?”

He didn’t hear half of what was said to him, he was too busy looking at his best friend kissing his crush. 

After his talk with Baekhyun, and standing in one spot for two minutes processing just happened like an idiot, he ran to Sehun’s art class but was told he had already left. He wanted to talk to Sehun and clear up any misunderstandings before Baekhyun may have told him or mentioned it. 

He could have sworn he also heard someone in the class giggle ‘his hairs a mess, must have been fun’. He ran a hand through his dark curls before giving up and planning to go calm down, wanting to finish his reading for literature. 

He didn’t expect to see Sehun approaching Baekhyun and going in for a kiss, this part of the plan wasn’t mentioned to him. He didn’t know what to feel anymore. 

Did Sehun like Baekhyun now? 

Why was he kissing him? 

Didn’t he like Kyungsoo? 

Chanyeol realised he still had someone standing next to him and shook his head to snap out of it, giving Kyungsoo a guilty look. He completely forgot to get back to the music room with Kyungsoo after the misunderstanding with Baekhyun, he felt like things couldn’t get any worse.

“Huh? Kyungsoo, I’m so sorry. I panicked and left and forgot to come back... But you did really well with the song-“

“It’s fine, don’t worry. You gave me all the help I needed so thanks. I just wanted to make sure everything was alright.”

Chanyeol felt reassured that he wasn’t mad at him, but the feeling of relief was crushed when he saw Sehun and Baekhyun pull away from each other. The look on Baekhyun’s face was one of pure affection. 

The emptiness Chanyeol felt was getting bigger. 

“I’m glad I could help... Hey, Kyungsoo do you have any plans tomorrow? Yixing is having this party, do you maybe- Wanna go with me?”

Chanyeol didn’t know what the fuck he was doing, it just came out. He didn’t know if this was an unconscious way of getting back at Sehun or if it was to make Baekhyun jealous, which wouldn’t work anyways because he doesn’t even have feelings for Chanyeol. 

Kyungsoo hummed in contemplation before smiling.

“Sure, sounds fun.”

  
———

Baekhyun dried his wet hair with a towel, he bounced onto his bed and sneaked a peek at what his roommate was doing. Kyungsoo was watching something on his phone with his headphones in, normally around nine after dinner he’d stop doing any work and watch something or play video games as a break for the end of the day. 

Baekhyun cleared his throat to get his attention but he hated the awkwardness that arose when Kyungsoo took out his headphones and turned to him.

“Yeah, Baekhyun?”

Baekhyun smiled and crossed his legs on his bed, “Sorry for disturbing your show but I wanted to say sorry for walking in on you and Chanyeol in the music room. I should have at least knocked.”.

“Wait, you’ve got it all wrong we weren’t-“

“It’s fine! Let’s not talk about it. It’s not my place to ask more, I just wanted to say sorry.”

Kyungsoo internally sighed and wanted to change the subject because he felt like Baekhyun wouldn’t believe him even if he denied it. 

“So, you and Sehun huh?”

Baekhyun raised an eyebrow, laughing under his breathe, “News travels fast around here.”.

“Pretty much, I heard from some people you guys are like a thing now.”

“Nothings really official, we haven’t talked about it much. We just hang out and... stuff.”

Kyungsoo hummed and the silence was deafening, this was the longest conversation the two had held. Even the day they moved into the dorm their talks were limited to their names, majors and how they wanted to maintain privacy. 

Baekhyun mentally thanked God when his best friend walked into the dorm, causing some form of ruckus to interrupt the current white noise between him and Kyungsoo. 

“Jongin, I told you to knock before coming in. What if I was naked or something?”, Baekhyun laughed as he threw himself onto Baekhyun but stopped moving suddenly when he noticed Kyungsoo’s presence. 

“Oh, h-hi Kyungsoo.”, Jongin stuttered and waved shyly at his friend’s roommate. 

Kyungsoo smiled warmly, “Hey, long time no see.”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who commented! Tomorrow is officially lockdown in London so I’m looking forward to fast updates! 🥰


	5. Chapter 5: A Midsummer Party's Brawl

After Sehun had heard the rumour about Chanyeol and Kyungsoo in the music room, he didn’t speak to the other even when they were in their dorm together. Chanyeol was in no mood to talk to Sehun anyways, once seeing him kissing Baekhyun and not even mentioning it. They just went about their own business and avoided even looking at each other.  
  


  
Tensions were high when Sehun came home that day and Chanyeol didn’t even look up from his laptop, although he wondered why Sehun was glaring at him whenever he passed by from the bathroom. Chanyeol tried not to think about it as he drove to Yixing’s party with Kyungsoo. He turned the radio on and didn’t know if Kyungsoo minded because the politics major seemed neutral about practically everything.  


  
  
He didn’t know where he got this newly found confidence from to have asked Kyungsoo to the party, but he wished he had it when talking to Baekhyun. Thinking about the last time he saw him, kissing Sehun and looking happy hurt more than when Baekhyun called him a ‘good friend’. He parked his car and quickly got out of the car to Kyungsoo’s side, opening the door for him.  


  
“Do you normally go to parties? I’ve never been to one of Yixing’s before.”, Kyungsoo made small talk as they walked into the large house.  
  


  
“Not a lot, I normally go with Sehun but I don’t like to party so much. It’s nice to meet people and socialise every once in a while.”  
  


  
Chanyeol cautiously placed his hand on the small of Kyungsoo’s back guiding him through the crowd. Anyone could tell that Yixing’s family was loaded because his house was almost as big as the school campus itself, whenever he threw a party it looked like the whole city attended. Chanyeol had been to Yixing’s house multiple times before and knew his way around, mainly in the front section with the kitchen and living room.  


  
  
He led Kyungsoo to the kitchen where he knew Yixing would be, they saw him serving drinks to classmates and cracking a few jokes which ensued roaring laughter. “Xing!”, Chanyeol called out which caught the other’s attention despite the loud music that everyone could feel in their chest.  
  


  
“Chanyeol! You made it, I’m glad! Oh, hey Kyungsoo. Welcome to the best party of the year.”, Yixing joked after hugging Chanyeol, Kyungsoo smiled and looked around.  
  


  
“Your house is unbelievable, thanks for the invite.”, Yixing waved off the comment from Kyungsoo like it wasn’t true, Chanyeol removed his hand from his back afraid he’d feel uncomfortable. Yixing waved and motioned someone over behind them, Chanyeol and Kyungsoo turned around to see Sehun approaching with his arm around Baekhyun.  


  
  
Sehun visibly tensed when he saw Chanyeol, his expression turning sour when he noticed Kyungsoo at his side.  


  
  
“Chanyeol, Kyungsoo! You guys came together?”, Baekhyun asked as he approached them. 

Chanyeol nodded and gave a smile that he hoped was convincing. He thought Baekhyun looked cute in his oversized white button up with ripped jeans, like an angel with the arm of the devil around it.  


“Good to see you all here, I’m gonna mingle but I’ll catch you in a bit.”, Yixing winked before walking over to the living room full of chattering people with the clinking of cups and beer bottles. Chanyeol and Sehun were subtly glaring at each other, Sehun’s jaw slightly tensing as he spoke.  


  
  
“I didn’t know you guys were a thing now.”, his voice hinted with venom but Kyungsoo was quick to comment.  


  
  
“Chanyeol asked me to go with him, I haven’t been to one of Yixing’s parties before. I didn’t expect to see you guys here together, you look nice.”, Baekhyun smiled at Kyungsoo’s comment and grabbed his arm to tug him closer. “We’ll get you guys some drinks. Come Kyungsoo, have you seen the size of his fridge?”, Baekhyun linked arms with him and they walked to the other side of the kitchen, opening the fridge seeing an overwhelming amount of drinks stacked on top of each other.  
  


  
“Didn’t know you were showing up with Kyungsoo.”, Sehun leaned back on the kitchen island, a clenched his fist behind his back.  
  


  
“Well, I figured you wouldn’t mind since you’re getting so close with Baekhyun.”  


  
“Yeah, we’ve been hanging out non-stop. We even went to go see a play that you apparently wrote in one of your letters you wanted to go see with him. You sure have great taste cause it fucking sucked. What was ‘The Midnight Dream’ even about? Nothing made any fucking sense.”  


  
“First of all it’s called ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and you’re an idiot.”, Chanyeol rolled his eyes. “And if you’re having such a great time with Baekhyun then I guess your plan is working out great, by me showing up here with Kyungsoo everything must be going exactly how you want it to.”.  


Before Sehun could snap back at him, they were being pulled over by Yixing to the living room. The Chinese student shoved them to sit on the ground in the circle their classmates were forming, they saw Kyungsoo and Baekhyun approaching, both with a beer in hand. Sehun irritably got up from beside Chanyeol and sat on the opposite side of the circle, humming thankfully to Baekhyun who took a seat next to him and handed him the beer bottle.  


  
“Baekhyun got Sehun a beer so I got you one too, they were out of punch.”, Kyungsoo gave Chanyeol the beer bottle and sat down with his legs crossed. “Thanks, but you didn’t get anything. Want to drink some first?”, Chanyeol twisted the lid off with ease and offered it to him, but he shook his head.  


  
“No thanks, I don’t dri-”  


  


  
“Jongin! You made it it, come sit here!”, Kyungsoo’s attention was caught by Baekhyun calling his friend over. He saw Jongin sitting down by Baekhyun and greeting Sehun. Chanyeol smiled a little seeing Baekhyun being the social butterfly that he is, but the strong taste of beer didn’t have any impact on the already bitter taste in his mouth from seeing Sehun be so close to his crush. He noticed that Jongin couldn’t stop stealing glances from Kyungsoo, and from the corner of his eye he could see Kyungsoo doing the same thing.  
  


  
Sehun noticed the small interaction as well and couldn’t even focus on what Baekhyun was saying to him. Yixing stood in the middle of the circle and after the DJ turned the volume of the music down, he clapped his hands together once things settled in the living room.  
  


  
“Alright, settle down! We’re gonna be playing truth or dare. Don’t worry if you wanna play, you can join in the next round. Everyone ready?”, Yixing placed an empty bottle in the middle after his announcement and sat down.  


  
"Truth or dare? Are we thirteen...", Kyungsoo mumbled which Chanyeol heard, he gave him an awkward smile starting to question if asking Kyungsoo to the party was a mistake or if he thought it was lame.

  
Ten minutes later and they were still watching their classmates ask each other quite personal questions such as ‘Is it true you slept with’ or ‘who do you think has the biggest-’, including a surprsingly small amount of dares. The most entertaining dare was Minseok jokingly giving a disinterested Jaehyun, who majored in performing arts, a lap dance. 

A few more inappropriate dares later, someone asked Baekhyun truth or dare to which he chose truth with the question being 'which rumour is true, that you have a nipple or a belly button piercing?'.  


  
  
Baekhyun's charming smile made the answer seem far more innocent than it actually was. "Both.", he replied.  
  


  
A chorus of 'Oohs' arose and Chanyeol had to keep wiping his nose to make sure he wasn't having a nosebleed, Sehun was stunned but could only keep his focus on Kyungsoo who had eyes slightly wider from Baekhyun's answer.  


  
It was Chanyeol's turn to ask someone truth or dare, so he spun the bottle and it landed on Yeri, a language major and the class clown, she sat up excitedly when the bottle pointed in her direction.  


  
"It's me? Oh, truth! Wait no, dare-"  


"Yeri, you need to wait for him to ask you first.", Jongdae rolled his eyes which earned a punch on his side from her.  


  
Chanyeol saw Sehun glaring straight at him, his eyes never faltering and Chanyeol felt his blood boil at the way Sehun looked at him like he was the one who did something wrong. The whole room was waiting for Chanyeol to ask Yeri the question yet it felt like it was just him and Sehun in the room staring at each other.  


"Sehun. Truth or dare?", Chanyeol's gaze never left Sehun's eyes and the other didn't even look phased at the unexpected call of his name.  


  
"Sehun? Hey, I'm Yeri-"  


  
"Yeri, shut up.", another classmate Seulgi mumbled as everyone could sense tension rising in the air.  


  
Sehun's lips curled into a smirk, "Dare.".  


  
"I dare you to tell me the truth. Why did you kiss Baekhyun?"  


Baekhyun quietly gasped, he saw a cold look he'd never seen on the taller before. It was evident that he was angry, voice demanding and fists clenched. Silence rang in the air as Sehun stood up from his spot, Chanyeol did the same and seconds later they were face to face in the middle of the circle.  


Kyungsoo looked at Baekhyun and his face read 'what's happening?' but Baekhyun just shrugged helplessly.  


"You wanna know why I kissed him? Because I found out that you fucked around with Kyungsoo in the practice room. Don't you think it's only fair?"  


Silence engulfed the large room, only the low toned music could be heard in the background. Chanyeol's angry expression mashed into a confused one, "What the fuck are you talking about?".

“You know exactly what I’m talking about! I like Kyungsoo and suddenly you decide you’ll go after him? What happened to you liking Baekhyun, huh?”

  
”You like Kyungsoo? Soo, do you like him too? What about us?”, Jongin spoke this time and was looking straight at Kyungsoo who looked lost.  


"Jongin, we talked about this.", Kyungsoo hissed at him like he was embarrassed talking about it in a room filled with their classmates. It was obvious that the game was over and something much more eventful was about to be witnessed by more than half the university.

  
”Us?”, Sehun repeated incredulously, “You two are dating? Wait let me get this shit straight. So I like Kyungsoo, Chanyeol likes Baekhyun and apparently Jongin fucking likes Kyungsoo too. Oh fuck, this is just like that stupid play from last night.”, Sehun tugged his hair and exhaled in stress.

‘But who does Baekhyun like?’, Chanyeol unconsciously asked himself. He couldn’t even care that his secret was exposed, there was no point in trying to hide it anymore because Baekhyun would be cofused from everything he just heard. Although Chanyeol found it daunting that his face was unreadable and freakishly calm towards the situation unfolding.  


  
“What the fuck is happening...”, Baekhyun mumbled under his breath.

  
Sehun tore his eyes from Kyungsoo to Chanyeol, "Park. I heard all the rumours about you and Kyungsoo, I'm not stupid.".

  
"Clearly you're a moron because it’s not true! Where did you even hear this shit?"

  
Somewhere in the circle Jongdae was slowly scooting backwards and away from the scene. 

  
"So you're denying it? Figures.”, Sehun chuckled, “You're too much of a coward to admit your own feelings let alone do shit like that.", Sehun fiercely snapped which landed him a direct punch in the jaw.

  
  
"Chanyeol!", Baekhyun's yell was the last thing his ears could register before he felt a numbing pain to his cheek. He fought back by gripping Sehun's shirt and slamming him down onto the floor, despite his large muscular build he'd never gotten into a fight or ever intended on starting one, especially not with who he thought was his best friend.  


  
Sehun kicked him backwards and lunged forward, getting ready to swing a fist straight into Chanyeol’s stomach while holding him by the neck but a hand grabbed his wrist before he could.

“Stop fighting, what is wrong with you guys!”

  
He looked over to see Jongin interfering, everyone around them had crowded to watch the fight and cheered for who they wanted to win, all the while more were rolling in at the mention of a fight. Chanyeol kicked Sehun’s stomach which caught him off guard sending him backwards and taking Jongin down with him.  


  
”Jongin, don’t get in the middle of it!”, Kyungsoo called out and actively tugged him backwards, but this sparked more rage in Sehun seeing his crush care more for someone else. He was about to punch Jongin before Chanyeol yanked him backwards instead. 

  
“Chanyeol, calm down! Get off him!”, Baekhyun pulled Chanyeol away from Sehun and let Kyungsoo help Jongin. He stood in the middle of the two quarrelling friends but was mostly holding Chanyeol back who was heavily breathing and feeling too many emotions at once by the look Baekhyun was giving him. 

  
Yixing shoved his way through the crowd and pushed Chanyeol and Sehun farther away from each other. “You two need to calm down, you can’t fight. Are you fucking drunk or something? Go and clean yourselves up, I’m not going to watch you kill each other over something when you can talk it out. There’s a first aid kit in every bedroom so go clean yourselves up and get your shit together.”.

  
  
No one had ever seen Yixing so livid and so serious before, the two didn’t want to protest and risk getting punched by Yixing himself so they made their way out of the living room but Chanyeol felt Baekhyun tugging him up the stairs, he thought the smaller was confusing him with Sehun.  


  
”Baekhyun...”  


  
”Shut up and come with me.”  


Chanyeol didn’t speak another word and did as told, he saw Sehun huffing and also climbing up the stairs behind them but he walked into a different bedroom than the one Baekhyun led him into. 

  
He sat Chanyeol down on the edge of the bed, closing the door rather aggressively making Chanyeol jump and slightly worry that he would get beat up for the second time tonight. 

  
“Baekhyun, I’m sorry-“  


  
”Chanyeol, I already knew that you wrote the letters.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was originally too long so I had to split it lmao, hope you all are doing well!


	6. Chapter 6: We can’t be for each other

“Chanyeol, I already knew that you wrote the letters.”

Baekhyun’s tone hinted something Chanyeol couldn’t make out, but it didn’t sound like he was angry. 

‘I knew he’d be disappointed that it was me.’

Chanyeol bit the inside of his lip from the stinging feeling in his chest, anger put aside and raw emotions digging it’s way through. 

“How did you know?”

”Lets see, when I waited for Sehun outside of literature class he never came out, then when I asked someone where he was they said they didn’t know who the fuck I was talking about.”

Chanyeol gulped, watching as the other searched around for the first aid kit Yixing mentioned, he also wondered why Yixing even had first aid kits available in the first place. 

“The kit might be in the bathroom...”.

Baekhyun didn’t respond and walked off to the connected bathroom, rummaging through cupboards for a minute before returning with the kit and tossing it on the bed. He opened it and grabbed disinfectant along with a piece of cotton wool.

”Don’t move or I’ll make it hurt.”, he dabbed the medicine on Chanyeol’s lip for a cut he didn’t even know he had, he hissed but stayed still nonetheless.

”It was also weird how he would ask about Kyungsoo so much and what my ideal type is. When I told him I got tickets to go see A Middummer Night’s Dream he said ‘the fuck is that, sounds like mystical porn’.”

Chanyeol resisted the urge to laugh because he still couldn’t tell how Baekhyun was feeling, he didn’t want to risk him misunderstanding for thinking the situation was funny. Baekhyun placed a tiny bandaid on the cut before snapping his eyes to Chanyeol’s. 

“But the one thing that gave it away was when you told me the story of the milk bottle.”

”What?”, Chanyeol looked at him in the eye this time and was thankful that he was sitting because being this close to Baekhyun would have made his knees weak, he was beautiful in every aspect.

”You told me about the bottle of milk in one of your letters. Not the story about your ears but how I shouldn’t hold my feelings in, you know I thought so much of that. After reading that I thought ‘wow, this person is so wise’, that this person somehow knew that I was going through a hard time. It’s my fault for thinking that way, huh?”, Baekhyun but his lip and didn’t realise he was gripping Chanyeol’s shirt in his hand. “I wanna know something. Why are you so bad at taking your own advice?”, Baekhyun’s voice crackled as it faded into a whisper which immediately alarmed Chanyeol. He looked up and saw the smaller with tears welling in his eyes.

Chanyeol never felt like more of an idiot in all his life.

‘You made him cry, what the fuck is wrong with you.’

He made Baekhyun sad, the exact opposite of why he wrote the letters in the first place.

“Baekhyun, no, no I’m so sorry. Please don’t cry, please.”

Chanyeol rose to his feet and held Baekhyun’s arms at both sides but he was roughly shoved away.

“Give me a fucking answer! Why did you do that? Why did you even write the letters... if you were going to do this.”, Baekhyun had fat tears rolling down his cheeks as his nose began to redden. 

“I was going to confess to you when I found you on campus, I swear but Sehun came in and said it was him. I- I didn’t know what to do-“

“Your justification for hiding the truth was because Sehun wanted you to? He said he liked Kyungsoo so why did he want to go after me? Was this plain fun? What is wrong with you!”

Chanyeol knew he had to say the truth, he should have done so from the moment he had the chance. Baekhyun clenched his fist although it was hidden under his long sleeve, he waited for Chanyeol to say something. 

Baekhyun wasn’t dumb, he knew once he started hanging out with Sehun that hispersonality and words didn’t match with the personality the letters conveyed at all. 

After a near thirty seconds of silence Baekhyun’s patience was thinning, it didn’t help that he couldn’t stop crying which he didn’t know was physically painful for Chanyeol to watch. He turned away to leave the room, but Chanyeol stopped him by pushing a hand on the door.

“I’m a loser.”

“That’s your reason?”

“Baekhyun, I’m sorry. I’m sorry it had to be me, I wanted to make you happy with the letters, but when Sehun said that he wrote the letters I realised that there’s no way you could like me back. I was scared you’d reject me because you’d think I was a stalker or something fucking worse.”, Chanyeol was looking at the ground and gulping once he finished speaking. He glanced at Baekhyun but immediately regretted it because he was still crying, only this time he looked not only sad but angry.

“You think that I would care who you are? You don’t think I’d like to have met the person who’s been writing me these letters? I couldn’t care less who...”, Baekhyun had to pause and collect himself, taking a deep breathe and choking on a sob. 

“I couldn’t care less who actually wrote the letters. The point is I just wanted to see and know who it was, it didn’t matter to me who it came from. If you think I’m that shallow then I must be the opposite of what you wrote to me.”

Chanyeol shook his head, not realising that his own tears were pouring out. 

“Baekhyun, that’s not true, please-“

He had already walked out the door, leaving Chanyeol to cry because his own heart was hurting and he didn’t feel like he had the strength to help someone else’s. 

Baekhyun moved through the crowd while wiping his tears, thankful that everyone was too busy talking amongst themselves and drunkenly dancing to notice Chanyeol chasing after him. The few that saw the scene only looked away quickly and whispered to each other what they thought was resulting from the earlier fight. 

Chanyeol ran after Baekhyun all the way to the outside of the house, holding Baekhyun’s arm before he could walk past the gates.

“Chanyeol, let go of me.”

“I’m sorry! Baekhyun I’m sorry for lying, I’m sorry-“

“Stop saying you’re sorry because it won’t make a difference! You wanna know why I’m mostly upset? It’s because the person that wrote my letters, fuck... I thought the person that wrote the letters had a good reason to not show them self . That they’d have nothing to be ashamed of, especially not in their self. But why are you ashamed of me knowing it was you? What makes you so terrible! You know what’s worse? I knew all along about you and Sehun lying but I wanted to believe that I was wrong, that it was Sehun. But after he kissed me...”

Chanyeol could feel his heart painfully squeeze like someone was reaching into his chest, Baekhyun was recalling the memory with a bitter look on his face.

“Honestly, after he kissed me I just wanted to see how much longer you guys could keep it up. Goodbye, Chanyeol.”, Baekhyun didn’t have anymore tears left, he was exhausted and walked out of Yixing’s property onto the pavement to head home. 

Chanyeol had nothing but tears clouding his vision when Baekhyun walked away, he angrily screamed as he tugged his hair. He didn’t feel like he could do anything else, he lied to Baekhyun and hurt him. The look of despair in Baekhyun’s eyes was something Chanyeol knew would haunt him for a long time, but he wanted to believe that it wouldn’t forever. 

———

“Son of a bitch.”

Sehun mumbled under his breath as he touched his jaw which still hurt from the strong punch Chanyeol swung. He did feel guilty for blurting out Chanyeol’s crush on Baekhyun, he wasn’t even embarrassed for himself for revealing their personal business in front of everyone but he felt bad for Kyungsoo who was unaware of the situation and essentially just dragged into it. 

He’d never been in a physical fight with Chanyeol before, they only ever fought with words and empty promises of never speaking to each other again since they were younger. Sehun was surprised that Chanyeol initiated the fight and looked like he genuinely wanted to kill him, and Sehun couldn’t blame him. 

“Why did you have to do that? You could have gotten punched or something...”

Sehun stopped in his tracks when he passed one of the bedrooms, he stood on the side of the opened door when he saw Kyungsoo and Jongin in the room together. The anger and jealousy he felt when they gave each other longing looks earlier was creeping back.

“I didn’t see why they should fight, I just wanted to he- Ah! Soo, it doesn’t hurt I’m not in pain.”

Sehun secretly watched how Kyungsoo was rubbing Jongin’s arm, sitting next to him on the bed and glaring with his wide owlish eyes. Jongin laughed lightheartedly and reached an arm up to play with Kyungsoo’s hair. It was obvious they had to have been dating before, or just friends who were too close for comfort. 

“You don’t like Sehun right? Kyungsoo, don’t tell Baekhyun but the reason I came back was for you. I missed you.”

Kyungsoo sighed and leaned away from his touch. Sehun felt relief at the action but the look Kyungsoo gave Jongin said everything Sehun needed to know, although he refused to believe it. They both had feelings for each other, Sehun slowly walked down the hallway and farther from the bedroom but he still heard the sentence that crushed all his hopes of wanting any relationship with Kyungsoo.

“I don’t even know Sehun but that doesn’t matter, I still love you Jongin.”

Sehun started to wonder, is this how Chanyeol felt when he pretended to write the letters and lead Baekhyun on? Having to witness the person you loved look at someone else and think they’re the one they’ve been waiting for? Sehun now knew that he’d been selfish from the start. 

He did want to stop Chanyeol’s feelings from getting hurt, he had seen his best friend cry over the smallest things from the beginning of their friendship around the time Chanyeol’s ferret ran away. That day Sehun slept over and tried to cheer Chanyeol up with a puppet show in the darkness of his bedroom, but the whole ordeal freaked Chanyeol out and made him cry even harder. 

The air felt warm and stale once Sehun stepped onto the front lawn, a few people outside holding a drink in hand and conversing with others, probably wanting to get away from the loud music and stumbling bodies everywhere. Although what caught his attention was a familiar figure sitting on the grass and tugging at his hair, mumbling profanities under his breathe which Sehun could hear clearer as he walked closer.

“Chanyeol, what are you doing?”

Chanyeol looked up immediately like he was waiting for someone to call him, the look of expectancy twisted into resentment and anger once he realised it was Sehun.

“Baekhyun I’m- Fuck off.”

He stood up and gripped Sehun’s collar, ready to start another fight but Sehun shoved him off not aggressively but enough to keep a distance between them. 

“Chanyeol, stop I’m not gonna fight you. I wanted to say sorry, okay? Im sorry.”, Sehun was sincere in his apology and Chanyeol could see that, but he could only focus on the look of betrayal and hurt on Baekhyun’s face. He knew it was partly his fault for not telling the truth but he wnated to ease his guilt by shifting everything onto Sehun. 

“You’re sorry?”, Chanyeol gritted his teeth.

“Look I fucked up-“

Sehun furrowed his eyebrows when Chanyeol hummed a small laugh, it sounded sarcastic and condescending.

“No, no you fucked up when we were thirteen and you pushed me out of that tree. You fucked up when you crashed your dad’s car and I took the fall for it. And you fucked up when you told Baekhyun you wrote the letters. But now you just ruined everything, Baekhyun probably wants nothing to do with me, but it’s all good since you’ll keep trying with Kyungsoo. Right?”

Chanyeol had calmed down a little, but instead of anger the feeling of agony resurfaced. Sehun kept silent, looking at the ground and Chanyeol thought that it was the first time his friend didn’t reply with something snarky or insensitive. 

“You know, I went along with it because we’re best friends, but... After this, why are we even friends?”, Sehun looked up and Chanyeol was staring him blankly. Sehun had been selfish in their friendship, he had gotten used to it since Chanyeol took care of him most times when they were younger. He never heard Chanyeol complain of anything to him, he started wondering why Chanyeol hadn’t beaten him up earlier in the years they were friends, he knew he would have deserved it.

“Chanyeol, I’m sorry. I’ll speak to Baekhyun, I’ll fix this.”

“Don’t bother, you don’t have to. I don’t want to be involved with you anymore, I have to fix this shit myself and I can do it without you.”

Chanyeol walked away and dug for his car keys in his pocket, he was glad that Sehun didn’t try to stop him but also felt hurt that he didn’t even try to restore what was left of their friendship. 

Now it was Sehun’s turn to sit on the grass and contemplate his decisions made tonight. 

———

With his heart heavy and driving more on the dangerous side from the beer he drank, he made it to his parent’s house. He didn’t know whether coming home with tear stained cheeks and smelling of beer was a good decision, but he unlocked the door anyways and hoped no one would notice him as he went up to his room. It was late so he didn’t expect anyone to be up anyways, but when the lamp switched on in the living room Chanyeol almost had an aneurysm and let out a high pitched squeak.

“Jesus, Chanyeol it’s just me! You’re such a baby, what are you even doing home? Hey, did you get in a fight?”, Yoora was already pestering him and she got up from the couch and dragged him over, forcing him to sit down. He scowled when she tried to get a look of his face.

“Where’s mom and dad?”

“They’re at aunt’s house cause she just had a baby, don’t change the subject and tell me what happened. Who did this to you?”

“Sehun. But it’s fine cause I punched him first, it was stupid anyways- Why are you hugging me!”

Yoora laughed and squeezed her little brother, pulling away to mockingly pinch his cheek. “You actually started a fight, it’s about time. I’m so proud! Even if it was with Sehun, it still counts.”.

Chanyeol huffed and leaned back dramatically, “We aren’t even friends anymore, I’m sick of having to deal with all the bullshit and problems he puts me in.”. Chanyeol gave his sister the side eye and noticed how she was staring at him with a questioning look.

“Yoora, are you drunk because you’re making more ugly faces than usual.”

“You’re the one that smells like alcohol. Why did you fight with Sehun?”

“It’s nothing he- He just, lied about something and I had to help cover it up. But in the end I hurt someone I really liked, and now everything is just shit. But you must be happy now, you never liked Sehun anyways.”

“Who says I don’t like Sehun?”

Yoora scooted closer and poked Chanyeol’s bruised lip, earning a shove after he hissed in pain. 

“You did the first time you met him- Ouch! Stop that...”

“Well, I saw him take your cookie from you when he first came over, I thought he was a little jerk.”

“I told him he could have that cookie.”

“You were so naive you would have given a burglar our house key if they asked. But Sehun kinda grew on me after I saw him beat up your bullies.”

Chanyeol looked at her confused, “What?”.

“When he beat up your bullies at school, well I wouldn’t say ‘beat up’, I think he just traumatised them. Remember the ones that made fun of your ears?”, Yoora smiled a little at him and pinched his ear playfully. Chanyeol didn’t have the energy to push her hand away but he had no idea what she was talking about. 

“Yeah I remember, but Sehun never beat anyone up. I never even told him about those kids.”

Despite being close since their young age, Chanyeol never told Sehun much about his problems, he thought he could deal with them on his own.

“After you told mom about the kids who were bullying you we went to the school to talk to the teacher about it, while mom was in the class I went outside to find the little shits and give them a beating-“

“Your future kids are gonna be lucky...”

“I know. But when I went to the playground I saw that was Sehun dealing with them already.”

———

“Say you’re sorry.”

Doyoung whined and remained still as Sehun sat on his back, preventing him from getting up. 

“Fine! I’m sorry, get off me!”

Sehun snickered and hummed leisurely, crossing his legs all while still sitting on the bully’s back. “Say you’ll leave Chanyeollie alone- Oh! And that I’m the king.”.

“Hey I’m telling!”, another kid said as they watched the situation, but she cowered behind her friend when Sehun gave a glare.

“I’ll sit on you next, Sooyoung!”

“N-no! I’m sorry your Majesty...”

Doyoung huffed and hit the concrete floor with his fist, “Okay! I’ll leave Chanyeol alone...”.

Sehun smiled, but still wasn’t satisfied.

“And?”

“You’re the king...”, Doyoung mumbled and took a deep breathe when Sehun got up from him. He flicked his bangs out of his face before yanking Doyoung back as he tried to run away. 

“If you say mean things to my best friend ever again I’ll sit on you for the rest of your life. Understood?”

Everyone erupted in a high pitched ‘yes’ before running off to somewhere else on the playground. Sehun smiled triumphantly to himself, happy that his friend would no longer hear mean comments anymore. 

Yoora decided Sehun wasn’t so bad after seeing that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAHHHHH THIS TOOK ME FOREVER😭 How’ve you guys been? I have exams in 2 weeks but I ain’t studying 🤧😊


End file.
